The Bar Council of India (BCI) has proposed setting up of academies for advocates at the state and national levels, on the lines of judicial academy, for running refresher courses for lawyers.
Claiming there is a need for lawyers to keep themselves updated with latest developments, BCI chairman Biri Singh Sinsinwar said the council was of the view that establishment of Advocates' Academy in each state at par with the judicial academy is required to provide continuous legal education to advocates throughout the country.
On the suggestion of the Chief Justice of India that there should be 365 working days in courts to ensure speedy justice, he said members of different bar associations and state bar councils had not agreed with the suggestion in absence of any modality to implement it.
"Speedy justice is fundamental right of every litigant... The working days must be 210 and that should also exclude all the leaves," Sinsinwar said.
He also said that the BCI had proposed renewal system of licences given to lawyers in order to weed out non-practising ones. According to the proposal, a licence should be renewed after every three years.
"There are several lawyers who don't practise but are registered with bar councils, while many practising lawyers fail to avail the benefits of the councils," he said.
The council has also proposed that stipend up to Rs 5,000 per month be paid to the new entrants in the Bar at least for a period of five years.
"At present, only two states, Karnataka and West Bengal, are providing stipend to the advocates and it needs to be implemented across the country," he said.
The BCI also said there is a dire need to establish e-library up to the taluka level in the country, looking at the high prices of legal books which are unaffordable for those practising at subordinate courts.
